Hey, Beautiful
by BeneathTheUmbrella
Summary: "Hey, beautiful." The first time he said those words to her, it was the morning after they first made love. (One-shot.)


_I may be the slowest person in the world, but I only made the connection about a month or two after the series finale aired that the first words we ever heard Ted say to Tracy is also the theme song title. Which makes me wonder (again and again) why on earth C/C did what they did. (Dammit, show!) For months now, I wanted to write a one-shot centered around these two words, and it finally poured out this evening. I hope you enjoy._

* * *

><p>"Hey, beautiful."<p>

The first time he said those words to her, it was the morning after they first made love. She had envisioned waking up with her back against his front, his body curled up around hers, an arm protectively and possessively draped across her middle.

But of course, she woke up as she usually did, her body at an awkward angle, legs splayed, her face pressed into the pillow, quite possibly drooling. But he still rolled up against her, placing a gentle hand on her hip, stirring her awake. He whispered those sweet words against her ear as her eyes fluttered open, a smile forming on her lips as he kissed her cheek, following it up with an offer to service her and then serve her up some waffles.

At that moment, Tracy figured that this is what pure bliss must feel like.

* * *

><p>"Hey, beautiful."<p>

He says those words to her as a form of greeting every time she opens her door to reveal him waiting on the other side, his eyes lighting up at the sight of her.

Ted still comes by to pick her up on date nights, even if they're heading back in the same direction from which he had already come. Some (ok, most) evenings, to save him the walk, she invites him in with a promise of a foot massage and something more.

She prefers staying indoors with him on cold winter nights, anyway.

* * *

><p>"Hey, beautiful."<p>

He says this with a tired tone in his voice every time he arrives to her place late in the evening, after drinks with the guys or hours spent in his office grading papers. She's already in bed, her nose almost always in a book. He shrugs his messenger bag off his shoulder, letting it drop to the floor with a thud, and then tosses himself onto the bed beside her with a contented sigh.

He leans forward, and she takes a second to give him a quick kiss "hello", her attention quickly back to her book. She hears him chuckle as he rests his chin on her shoulder, his eyes on the page along with hers, asking her to read aloud to him.

On nights like these, Tracy's glad to have given him the keys to her apartment. There's nowhere else she'd rather he be.

* * *

><p>"Hey, beautiful."<p>

She says it to him teasingly, sometimes when she's trying to seduce him, crawling onto his lap on the couch as he's watching the Browns lose miserably. She figures he needs a pick-me-up.

But most of the time, she tells it to him in front of Barney and Robin, as she walks through the door of MacLaren's where they're all already sitting at the booth, sliding into the empty seat next to him. The other two mock him good-naturedly as Ted's cheeks turn red and he tells them to knock it off; but she knows he secretly loves it.

She adores it when he doesn't take himself too seriously.

* * *

><p>"Hey, beautiful."<p>

He says this sheepishly after they get into a fight, Tracy having stormed into her bedroom angrily, leaving Ted alone in the living room.

He makes his way to her room a few minutes later, respecting her enough to give her some space, but not stupid enough to let her sit alone and stew for too long. After all, it was a silly disagreement over something small and insignificant, and they both want to make up. He sits next to her on the bed, and she's the first to lean in for a conciliatory kiss, and they quickly fall back onto the bed.

After all, life's too short to stay angry; she knows this all too well. So she's learned to forgive easily and love freely.

* * *

><p>Now she sits in the parlor of the Farhampton Inn, admiring her surroundings, amazed that the place looks exactly as it did a year earlier. It's as if time had not passed, but clearly it did; after all, she's a different person than she was a year ago. She's happier, lighter, more hopeful, and she no longer has a grey cloud hovering above her head. And she attributes it all to Ted, who's presently at the front desk, trying to get intel on when they'd be able to check into the room so that they could get their anniversary weekend started.<p>

"Hey, beautiful."

She looks up at the sound of his loving voice, at the man who has taught her that, yes, it _is_ possible to let love in again. Her heart is just bursting with more joy than she'd ever thought imaginable. She smiles up at him as he walks towards her, her eyes shining, her voice practically singing:

"Hi."

_END_


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